Textile Junkie

"Textile Junkie", is one way to refer to my love of materials. Color, pattern, texture, and crazy prints light up my world. A longtime design principal I have applied to my works as a favorite is

When we bring nature into our interior spaces we add depth, dimension, texture, warmth, w/ a sense of the organic.

After a long time obsession w/ collecting textiles and infusing my love for plants into this realm I have recently been inspired to start experimenting w/ botanically infused dyes from my garden (and spice cabinet)!

My journey into design is not limited to just soft foods, but hard surfaces too w/ a niche in natural stone and tile. Loved helping so many great people in the Portland area w/ design of their interiors including funky tile and exotic stone, selections for over a decade! Working full time in this fast paced industry, left me little time for hobby. My passion for textiles was more of a hobby collecting cool fabrics and prints w/ occasional light sewing for interior projects versus crafting pieces of artwork!

My First Loom

Since childhood I have been intrigued by crafting w/ textiles though and remember asking for this rad (toy) loom to start weaving by the time I was 6 or 7. My mom taught me embroidery and how to make a fuzzy hook rug. How about those funky pot holders weaved from the stretchy nylon bands?  The hippie years later hit and I continued to wet my whistle making making peace pipe pouches, hemp necklaces and festival dresses. Good times! Thanks Jerry!

Currently for the first time in a long while I am finding more time to play! I have retired from my tile showroom position thanks to my residual income from my home business sharing doTERRA essential oils. Now I am learning how to nuture myself, and do more of what I love. I am at the gateway of learning how to weave and macrame. It is coming along fast considering I am recognizing the basic knots from my hemp necklace making days!

Dyeing Deja Vu

Instantly I have been drawn to dye these first spools of jute w/ color! This handcrafting of color is adding a unique, feel to my projects considering I am harvesting plants in my garden to make beautiful one of a kind colors in my artwork. My first attempt was a huge success and I am pleased to share my results. Feeling like I could have worked in Fez in the dye district from a past life I am rooted to this practice and though new, it's seems familiar and old. (See image Fez below). This practice is ancient, good for the soul,  and I love that it is plant based.

Supplies

It was great to score some of the supplies I needed at a garage sale. I was able to buy many vats (old pots) for a $1 each to hold my dye baths! YES! Currently I am working w/ natural fibers such as hemp, cotton, and jute to practice various dying methods.

Wild Color

What I am enjoying the most about this process is it feels pretty organic! I hope to maintain sample records of my recipes w/ some level of science(to an extent) but sometimes it just feels good to go "Wild Color". This is a reference to the book "Wild Color: The Complete Guide to Making and Using Natural Dyes" by master mixoligists, Jenny Dean and Karen Dyadic Casselman (1999), where I have received my inspiration.

Jenny Dean has worked with natural dyes for more than 30 years. A collection of her dyed samples is included in the collection of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels, Belgium. Karen Diadick Casselman has taught dyeing techniques throughout the U.S. and internationally. Her dyed pieces are included in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and other museums.

Modifiers, Mordants, and pH

There is a wide range of color one can extend from just one dye bath. Once a material has had it's dye bath a mordant can be added such as a copper, alum, or iron solution to create this range in color. These are basically baths in acid or alkaline like infusions (pH up or pH down). They can be made naturally using things like rusty nails and copper pipes diffusing in water solutions. These liquids need to be handled w/ care.  I am still wanting to understand more about making my own mordants before I embark on this part of making and storing these liquids. For now, I just worked w/ rinsing my first project in a modifying pH up or pH down solution to experiment w/ range 5.0 to 7.0 on the pH scale is considered neutral. Anything higher than that is on the alkaline side of the scale. A value lower than 7.0 is to be on the acid side. pH testing paper is an inexpensive and easy way to test the pH value.

1. Natural ways to adjust the pH down toward more acid(0-5.0)  is w/ vinegar or lemon.
2. If your solution is too acidic ways to adjust more alkaline, which is up w/ amoneia, ground chalk, washing soda, or wood ash water.

I don't keep amonia in my house since I only use non-toxic, natural cleaning solutions in my home.  I did swoop some ash left from a  wood burning fire out from the yard and mixed w/ water to make my pH up solution as a tester. The acid pH down solution was the easiest for me to whip up considering I had vinegar on hand. Vinegar is something I always keep around as a multi-use natural, effective, and non-toxic cleaner.

Bright Acids and Essential Oils

Acid side of pH scale makes brighter vivid colors! I saw this affect happen before my very own eyes w/ the vinegar. I could not resist as I was making a wild orange marigold color out of turmeric I rinsed it to give it yet another bath in my doTERRA Wild Orange essential oil. The tone became even more vibrant! The wild orange scent was nice to wash away the vinegar smell. Both can have anti-bacterial properties which was also a good thing because one mistake I made was after juicing the beet  was to add the plant matter to the dye bath. This made for lots of chunks and micro particles I had to rinse.  I was going for a golden from turmeric powder added a base from a beet or pomegranate rind was custom in India. This could deepen the original gold color and as the tumeric fades easily w/ UV exposure . Though I kept my measurements a bit loose the final resulting color was exactly what I was going for. Alchemy fun!

Nature rules!! Stay tuned for an upcoming post on my macrame project w/ incorporation of my dyed goods. Here are a few inspirations.